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61. Posted: 23 Nov 2021 22:11 - Off-Grid Living / Solar or Generator
...sed for powering big loads (maybe a blender). The portable battery runs everything else. At the end of the weekend, you bring it back home and plug it in to charge for next time. Many support a small solar panel to help carry them through the weekend. It really makes no financial sense as you burn about $150 in fuel a year. A portable battery solution is probably double that (...
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62. Posted: 19 Sep 2021 21:46 - Cabin Construction / Cabin Remodel
... Under the siding is Tyvek and it seems to be in good shape. Would I be better off taking the siding off and replacing it with vertical boards and batten? I see what you mean about the roof mounted solar not being in the optimal position for efficiency. I'll look into a portable array. Do you have any recommendations for brands? I have a small renergy setup that...
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63. Posted: 31 Aug 2021 10:12 - Off-Grid Living / Simple Solar. It’s easy- our setup.
Hi all. I just thought I’d share since there’s a lot of info about solar setups and it can be confusing. Here’s a very simple setup that we have that works great for us for our off grid lake cabin. Now this is...
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64. Posted: 17 Aug 2021 10:29 - Off-Grid Living / Propane cooking stove
Quoting: BrettnyHow big is your solar setup? How many watts does a normal propane stove take? Hi Brett-I’m not sure I follow? Do you mean volts for ignition on a normal stove? If so they’...
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65. Posted: 17 Aug 2021 09:20 - Off-Grid Living / Propane cooking stove
How big is your solar setup? How many watts does a normal propane stove take?
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66. Posted: 1 Aug 2021 07:24 - General Forum / Cabin let down? Yes? No?
... Handed it had to be the Right Arm no less. And this Totally Freaky Weather here has been a nightmare too (Deep Heavy Rains, screwy abnormal temps. Now the Job Jar is minimal; - Toolshed & its solar setup for it (24V/3000W). - Front Entry Porch. - Final Powerhouse Roof Mods and interior update. - Completing the Live Edge Cedar Siding on the Powerhouse to match t...
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67. Posted: 28 Jul 2021 05:49 - Off-Grid Living / Solar information overload
...g DC Wires is inefficient due to line losses (this is why AC dominates the world). As mentioned by gcrank1 Lead/AGM/FLA you can only use 50% of capacity or you are damaging them. Real Deep Cycle Solar Batteries are not cheap and motive batteries do not survive this kind of use yet some folks do so. Also RENOGY is a Marketing genius that sucks folks into buying their KRAP ! RUN A...
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68. Posted: 27 Jul 2021 23:22 - Off-Grid Living / Solar information overload
Hello, long time listener, first time caller. I have been pouring over all the wonderful information here and my head hurts trying to figure out what kind of solar setup I need. A little back ground. I bought some fairly heavy wooded land in Southern Oregon and want to build a 12x16 shabin with half of that space having a loft...
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69. Posted: 16 Jul 2021 11:03 - Off-Grid Living / Wiring between 3 locations at the cabin, would 1 system or multiple systems be better?
...strong>Setup: 1 - Longi 305W 60 Cell Full Silver Frame 40m 1 - Victron 100/30A MPTT Charge Controller 1 - Noname 1000W pure sin inverter 2 - Costco 6V 205 AH lead acid batteries setup as 12v. The guy at the solar place said the costco ones are not great and dont last long but well see I guess. $50 more to go to Rolls vs Costco. Powering 24/7 - 7amp shu...
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70. Posted: 7 Jul 2021 12:55 - Off-Grid Living / NEWS: New Midnite Solar DIY Series - SCC's & Inverters (great $ too)
... and honestly that will probably we all we need this summer while I take time to wire, put in lights, dig trenches etc for the wires. We just had our fridge die which caused me to think lets move to solar but at the end of the day there is not a great area to setup the panels unless I built it etc and at some point I just want to enjoy the summer with our new born and...
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71. Posted: 29 Jun 2021 08:05 - Off-Grid Living / Incinerator toilets
...lets and the good ones are not cheap but do what they are supposed to, some are "finicky" to be polite and the power consumption is what did it for me, they are energy pigs and I am offgrid solar. I settled on a Sawdust Composting Toilet system, with a http://www.we-pee.com/ Urine diverter which allowed me to tie that into my Grey Water system, which takes the sinks, shower,...
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72. Posted: 9 Jun 2021 11:09 - Off-Grid Living / AGM battery brand recommendations?
...e went into a bidding war for it. WHY ? 2 years ago a Pro Installed Dual Tracking system was installed, each has 12 Panels and the house is still Grid Tied but is completely independent thanks to the solar & 48V/50kWh LFP (commercial) battery bank.. AND the Documentation and setup was "perfect" and people wanted it BAD. I'm not seeing the collation. ...
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73. Posted: 9 Jun 2021 10:43 - Off-Grid Living / AGM battery brand recommendations?
...9;s used 2-3 days at a time AGM/FLA are likely still the better option, especially if not a Heavy Demand system. But that window is getting short & shorter. A point of Resale of Cabin/Home with solar systems. Anyone looking to buy a place does not want to fuss with things, They want Simple, Easy and no hassle to run with it. I have seen buyers drop a house price and after purc...
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74. Posted: 8 Jun 2021 16:06 - Off-Grid Living / AGM battery brand recommendations?
Hello. I am setting up a small solar setup. Going to use Renogy panels and charge controller, still settling on what inverter to use, but my main question is what AGM battery brands to look at. Renogy ...
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75. Posted: 17 May 2021 10:31 - Off-Grid Living / Electrical System Monitors
... because it's going from 3.399 to 3.299 takes that long with my bank and the primary Voltage Curve is 3.000-3.400 VPC for LFP. VPC = Volts per cell. The Shunt + WizBang Jr electronics (Midnite solar monitor) are using the NEG line. The solar input & inverter go thought it's Deltec 500A/50mv Shunt. That allows me to see all power going in from either t...
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76. Posted: 16 May 2021 15:51 - Off-Grid Living / Electrical System Monitors
...If a meter is between that busbar & battery, then the meter will only read what goes in/out of that battery. The negative line beyond that busbar, the Inverter & SCC will tell you everything Solar In and Inverter out so you'll get the full picture. Of course, all this depends on how your system is setup and wired, where the fuses, breakers etc are.
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77. Posted: 6 May 2021 22:06 - General Forum / wireless outdoor cameras
...MICRO-S-LTE - The replacement stopped working also after a month. My guess is the exact same thing happened, but I'll find out more this weekend. I'll ask them to replace it with the non-solar version but with the solar add-on (different setup), just the non-solar version itself, or ask for a full refund. Disappointed in ...
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78. Posted: 20 Apr 2021 07:37 - Off-Grid Living / Direct Vent Propane
...ual suggestion which could apply. I used a recovered LPG Furnace out of a 4 year old wrecked RV. It's a Direct Vent, Electronic Ignition, only needs 12VDC to run so a single 12V battery with 1 solar panel & charge controller (think of those 100W Coleman units at Canadian Poofda (Canadian Tire) when on sale. If going that route, you could get away with a RV/Marine Deep Cycle...
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80. Posted: 13 Apr 2021 21:22 - Off-Grid Living / Wiring between 3 locations at the cabin, would 1 system or multiple systems be better?
...a new bathroom with shower and toilet at this location as well. This location is a small shed with a slopped roof. The slop is from East (highest) to West (lowest). I figured I could setup a panel on this roof and make a contained solar/controller/battery setup here to power the waterpump for the hot and cold water along with the 2 lights. Location...
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81. Posted: 25 Feb 2021 09:13 - Useful Links and Resources / Ceramic Car Wax
...I got the Blazer back on the road with the new mill in about a week, probably could have gotten by. I still drive it around town, and have just put my batteries in the cabin permanently with the new solar setup, so it can do cabin duty again when the weather warms up.
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82. Posted: 15 Feb 2021 23:11 - Off-Grid Living / Generator Ideas
...mally just run six 9 watt LED bulbs and a tv. The cabin does not get a lot of use. The main use comes in the November 9 day gun season where the generator runs for about five hours per night. Not really interested in solar. Main thing is ease of use. We do have a couple large 8D batteries we charge and use with an inverter for shorter periods. Looking to run generator on LP since we he...
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83. Posted: 12 Feb 2021 10:48 - Off-Grid Living / Small Cabin Solar Math
...ing, pretty much every dollar you put into bringing in grid power goes right into the value of the property. $3,000 to bring in grid power goes right to your bottom line...$3,000 on a nice solar setup is a sunk cost and worth basically nothing long term.
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84. Posted: 12 Feb 2021 06:02 - Off-Grid Living / Small Cabin Solar Math
Quoting: gcrank1I like stuff that lasts long and is more cost effective. Grid power lasts longer than any solar setup. I wasn't aware grid power was available. At $5k put in the grid power. I spent $1200 on my system and bought some used components. If grid ...
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85. Posted: 12 Feb 2021 00:06 - Off-Grid Living / Small Cabin Solar Math
...ter bang for the buck that 'marine deep cycle'. They may even last long enough to be all I 'need'; ie, will I still be doing this in another 5 years. BobW, if I didnt get all this solar setup with the place, basically a throw-in for free, I wouldnt be buying it all. Most likely Id be running off my Lil' Champ 1700/2000w inv/gen for big stuff (l...
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86. Posted: 5 Feb 2021 13:10 - Cabin Construction / Simple build-- input needed
... intruding into your quality cabin time, even a 'quiet' one becomes the dominant sound around. Yea I hear you there. I'm probably going to get sick of running it and invest more in my solar setup eventually. Luckily the my property runs 500' from North to South, so if I clear the area right I may be able to get enough energy from that to not have t...
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87. Posted: 4 Feb 2021 01:38 - Cabin Construction / Simple build-- input needed
...I'm not great with calculating battery hours, but taking into account the 20% safety buffer with ~520wh and running a few of these I should have plenty of run time I hope. I also do have 300w of solar panels available, not sure how effective they will be on my property though because it is pretty wooded and we don't get a ton of sun anyways. I'll tackle the solar...
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88. Posted: 19 Jan 2021 13:54 - Off-Grid Living / Nature's Head at weekend cabin
...e (weekends), and midweek when up there for a full week. We empty the solids about every 2 months. Ours is a fully independent, off-grid setup. Exhaust pipe vents through roof, where a boaters' solar vent keeps air moving. Not good enough to connect the Nature's Head fan to a 12V battery setup that is powered only when you're there -- y...
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89. Posted: 18 Jan 2021 19:05 - Off-Grid Living / Help me choose LFP battery
...ed' by date of mfr and voltage like L/A do? No, LFP is not like lead that way. Voltage matched yes, 12V, 24V etc... It's unwise to mix different chemistries. 2) when hooked up to the solar cc and charging in the winter does one need to pay attention to the low temp coming and discon/shut down the array input to the cc before the LFP shuts down the battery? Most BMS wi...
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90. Posted: 7 Jan 2021 09:40 - General Forum / Secrets on extending your stay
...used me there. How is that different than any fridge. Yes they are expensive but cool and freeze just like any other fridge I’ve cottaged for decades with propane fridges. I did upgrade to a solar electric fridge this summer and expanded my solar system but still have one propane fridge for when we have company and need more room I say no propane fridge becau...
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